Come Hell or High Water
by Tsuyu Fujiwara
Summary: Supernatural Control Case File: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. are called to Tokyo to assist in tracking down a hypocritical demonhunter that has been kidnapped. Sounds easy enough... - Reviews are appreciated!


"Come Hell or High Water" - A Project: Demonhunter Side Story

Author's Notes:

- I don't own what I don't own (but I do own Project: Demonhunter, it's associated characters, concepts of mythological figures, and settings), and I don't actively look for other stories and plots, so if you see something familiar… just remember that by this day and age, everything's been done to death. This is just my take on a span of time with the events therein, and it's really for the development of my characters. It's just easier for me if they go play in worlds that are already established.

- The Hell Council is made up of leaders of the Underworld from around the planet and cover the majority of major belief systems. I mean no harm in any which way if anyone is offended, but I would appreciate if some research was done before flames are passed out.

- If you would like to see any illustrations done to go with these stories, or images of the characters from Project: Demonhunter, please visit the links on my user page.

* * *

_Deep in the Underworld, there stands a place that not many people talk about… largely because they don't know it exists. This is the headquarters of Supernatural Control, lead by the Hell Council. It's members have long since stopped the war between Heaven and Hell, and have come into some semblance of a decent working environment. Gone are the days of epic temptations and salvations, pious heroes and sinful villains… that is not to say that these things do not still exist, but it is now on the shoulders of Supernatural Control to guide the balance between darkness and light._

_The following is one of the many exploits that the employees of this organization have embarked on..._

* * *

Hellboy scratched the back of his neck idly while walking down an all but deserted street outside a temple in Tokyo. "I don't believe I came out here for nothing."

As the demon turned to head back to the airport, he heard a distant voice.

"Excuse me! Sir? Hello!"

"What the…?" Looking up the steps of the temple, he quickly found the source of the voice – a magenta haired demoness in shrine robes was running full-tilt down the stairs.

"Sorry! I was the one that called you!" The woman jumped off the last few stairs to keep from tripping and landed in front of Hellboy, the demon giving her a bit of stability.

"I didn't think you would have come so quickly." The woman straightened herself out and held out her hand. "My name is Maigo."

"Hellboy." The demon shook her hand, surprised at the grip the slight woman possessed.

"Did you receive all the information you needed?" Maigo looked up at Hellboy.

"I'm still a little fuzzy on details, but I did bring the people you requested… they're back at the airport." Hellboy scratched the back of his head.

"I can fill you in while we wait then." Maigo motioned for the B.P.R.D. agent to follow her up the stairs to the temple.

Inside the temple proper, Maigo poured the demon some tea as she explained her predicament.

"…About a week ago, monks from a monastery outside Oyama hired Toshi to perform a routine tengu infestation removal. Normally, something like this takes two to four hours, and she always goes back afterwards to collect her fee. …She never came back. Now, it's not unusual for To-sama to disappear for days at a time, but she normally notifies one of her retainers to close the job on her behalf… we have yet to hear from her."

"Are you sure that she didn't get sidetracked?" Hellboy picked up the cup, making it look tiny in his hands.

"She's usually pretty good about staying on the job." Maigo shrugged. "The problem is, her master is a Goddess of Light, and they're in constant communication with one another. Toshi hasn't contacted her in over three days, and nobody in the supernatural realm has seen her. It doesn't help that Yosei is morbidly paranoid about To-sama's whereabouts."

"Why? I thought that Toshi was indestructible." Hellboy cocked his head slightly.

"Well… that's not entirely true." Maigo played with her tea cup. "It's something that we tell people to psych them out. Toshi _can_ be killed… but her death sets off a chain reaction of events that destroy the universe."

"…What?" One of Hellboy's eyebrows shot up.

"The Goddess of All Demons resides in Toshi's soul." Maigo looked up at the demon.

"There is a clause in her contract with Yosei and Lord Enma that if she should fall for any reason, or become obsolete as a demonhunter, she is allowed to pass into Heaven. The only problem with that is… once the Goddess is free in Heaven… everything goes 'pfft'."

"Define 'pfft' for me." Hellboy warily asked.

"Imagine the entire universe resetting itself to the time of the Big Bang and starting over." Maigo deadpanned.

"… I… see." Hellboy put the cup down. "And finding her intact would be beneficial then."

"Exactly." Maigo nodded. "We think that she was kidnapped so she could be an unwilling participant in a ritual of some kind."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to have your own people look for her?" Hellboy started.

"You'd think that." Maigo nodded. "But everyone in Supernatural Control is up to their necks in backlogs. As usual."

"You could always pass some of it off to us." Hellboy shrugged. "After all, we _are_ on your payroll."

"Normally, I'd agree." Maigo sipped her tea. "But we've been putting off the cases we have history with. People and creatures that have been willing to wait. They haven't been so willing since Toshi fell off the map."

"I understand." Hellboy nodded, twirling his cup idly. "When do you want us to get to work?"

"The sooner the better, I'd hope." Maigo rose. "I've been doing some canvassing of the nearby area, and my informants found something you might think is interesting."

"Oh?" Hellboy turned to watch the demoness as she created some floating flames to give her some extra light as she retrieved some maps from a drawer.

"This is the area that the monastery is in." Maigo motioned to an area just northeast of Oyama.

The demoness moved her hand slightly towards Tokyo "… And this is where we've been having some problems flare up. My informants have _**never**_ seen activity like this before, and they think that Toshi is being held somewhere in this area."

"How can you be sure?" Hellboy looked at the map. "I mean, come on… how many demons _live_ in this country?"

"I think 'how many demons can subconsciously entice plants and animals to become demonic _overnight'_ is the question you want to be asking here." Maigo looked up at the demon. "Toshi is the only one I've **ever** seen that displayed that kind of ability."

"How do you…" Hellboy tilted his head.

"One hundred and fifty-four years ago, towards the end of the Spanish Inquisition. Toshi left a swath of destruction between Sicily and the Vatican that took _**all **_of Supernatural Control _three weeks_ to clean up. We're surprised that word never got out." Maigo rolled up the map. "I know it's her. We just haven't been able to figure out _where_ she is."

"And that's what you want me for." Hellboy nodded.

"That's about the long and the short of it." Maigo picked the map up to return it to the drawer. "I'll come along just in case."

"Just in case what?" Hellboy stood, getting the attention of his team as they entered the temple.

"Hellboy!" Abe called out as he led the group into the room. "It's getting dark, we should probably head to the hotel."

"Who said anything about a hotel?" Maigo came back into the group with her arm ablaze, held up like a torch. "I thought we said that you could stay here."

"You did, but… are you aware your arm is on fire?" Abe turned to the demoness.

"So it is." Maigo shook her arm, putting out the flame. "I must have gotten a little careless lighting the braziers."

"How can you be so calm about that?" Liz raised her eyebrows.

"Did Hellboy not tell you I was an elemental demon?" Maigo looked up at the larger demon. "Have you told them _anything_?"

"I gave them the dossier." Hellboy shrugged.

"The dossier doesn't say anything about **me**." Maigo chuckled as she shook her head. "Come on. You folks can set your equipment down and I'll take you out for dinner."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather discuss the mission?" Professor Bruttenholm asked, as Maigo took his suitcase.

"I would… but I'm hungry, and I'm pretty sure you guys are too." Maigo smiled. "Besides, one of our kitsune informants owns a yakiniku restaurant."


End file.
